2. Miniloc Island, Philippines

MatadorU faculty member Scott Sporleder’s note: “to reach the entrance to this little lagoon on Miniloc Island you travel through the break in the cliff, making your way past reefs and dreamlike water.”

13. Mar del Plata, Argentina

14. San Francisco, California

15. Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts

16. Persian Gulf, Iran

Photographer Hamed Saber snapped this shot of Khezr Beach on Hormoz Island (Persian Gulf), a beach named for a prophet in the Quran. According to Saber, “local people say that this beach is named Khezr beach, because someday he walked in this beach. There is a small shrine with a green dome over it named “Khezr Footprint.”

17. Palawan, Philippines

18. Phi Phi Leh, Thailand

Maya Bay can get a bit crowded these days with tourist boats whipping down from Phuket, but if you get there early in the morning or stay long enough to let the boats leave, chances are you will have the place to yourself.

19. Ontario, Canada

20. Robin Hood’s Bay, England

Although it’s not likely he was ever in the area, this small fishing village on the coast of North Yorkshire is named after the legendary thief. As the story goes, Robin Hood took on a band of French pirates in this spot and returned their loot to the villagers.

31. Worthing, England

I set the camera on the tripod, manually focused the area to include the shadow cast from the groin at the center of the picture. I experimented with a few different aperture values and eventually settled on f22, although I preferred f16 initially. I then worked through various different exposure times and found a nice balance at 30 seconds.”

37. North Ayrshire, Scotland

38. Punggol, Singapore

According to the photographer, “Punggol Beach used to be one of the Japanese killing fields during the Second World War. On Feb 28, 1942, about 1,000 Chinese from the area around Upper Serangoon Road were rounded up by the Japanese as part of the Sook Ching or mopping-up operation. All were executed at this beach as punishment for their resistance activities.”

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